Arrangements described herein relate to conferences and, more particularly, electronically hosted conferences.
The use of electronically hosted conferences, such as web conferences and teleconferences, has grown significantly over the last decade, facilitated by the proliferation of communication networks, such as the Internet and mobile communication networks, and increases in available bandwidth. These services are valuable tools in the present communication age.
Web conferencing is a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations. In general, the service is made possible by Internet technologies, particularly on TCP/IP connections. Web conferencing allows real-time point-to-point communications as well as multicast communications from one sender to many receivers during a Web conference. Further, Web conferencing offers information, such as text-based messages, voice and video chat to be simultaneously shared across geographically dispersed locations. Applications for web conferencing include, but are not limited to, meetings, training events, lectures, or short presentations.
Teleconferencing is another service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations. A teleconference is a live exchange of communications using telephony services. Such services may be provided over a variety of communication networks, including public switched telephone networks, mobile communication networks, Internet technologies, and the like. In contrast to a Web conference, which may communicate both audio and video signals, a teleconference typically is focused on communication of audio signals, for example speech and other audio signals.